Essential Requirements for Live Streams, Webinars, and Webcasts

Whether it’s your first time running a livestream or if you’re an experienced professional it’s worth taking a little time to check you’ve got everything in place for a successful broadcast. Here is Kinura’s quick guide to the basics.

Connectivity

Out of all the requirements for live streams, connectivity is the most important. Is the line you’ll be using dedicated to streaming? How fast is it? How reliable is it? Are ports 80, 443 & 1935 open inbound and outbound? Are there proxies & firewalls that might interfere with the stream? Also, make sure you’re not being dumped on the delegate Wi-Fi. This is a classic – it’ll work fine until the room is filled with 200 folks on their phones.

Connection testing in advance of a webcast should be one of the non-negotiable requirements for live streams. If you can’t test then you can’t guarantee anything will work. We always take our LTE/4G bonded backup connections to every single job because there’s still the risk of that something unexpected happening on the clients network and one connection is a single point of failure.

Back-ups

Run two of everything. We do as it makes us sleep better. The industry standard for stream redundancy is dual encoders running to primary and secondary publishing points. The secondary encoder uses our own LTE bonding internet connection. Kinura also uses an extra layer of redundancy as we run both of the independent streams to a Virtual Master Control Room (VMCR). So even if there is a simultaneous failure on both the primary and backup streams the stream won’t drop and you can communicate this to your audience while you fix the problem.

Sound

Of all the requirements for live streams, sound gets overlooked the most. Bad audio makes great content unwatchable. Make sure your sound techs understand that the event is going out online and not just in the room. Room sound and stream sound aren’t the same thing – room sound usually isn’t loud enough for the steam so check levels properly.

Make sure soundchecks are build into the event schedule and soundcheck with stand-ins before guests arrive. Agree the method of communication between the video team and the sound tech so levels can be tweaked during the event if necessary.

Promotion

You can get your technical requirements for live streams perfect but if you don’t tell anyone you’re streaming, you’ll have no audience. This might sound obvious, but so many clients forget to plug their webcast with a pre-planned, measurable strategy. You should be telling your audience at least one month, one week, one day and then one hour before you go live. Then, you should follow up immediately with the on-demand. It’s not hard, required little planning and give you significant ROI. Also, get your presenters to promote the event through their own channels whether that’s on social or internally.

Branding

Even if this is an internal comms stream to staff, if you don’t brand your live stream you miss a big opportunity, both to make it look professional and communicate with your audience throughout your webcast or webinar.

All you need to do is create some simple images to top and tail each session. Use these to tell people what time you’ll be live, how to interact, to say ‘thank you for watching’ and so on. This makes a big difference to the audience’s experience.Beyond that, you should add ‘lower third’ name straps showing speakers’ names and job titles. It’s likely someone who’s watching doesn’t know what your speaker/CEO/whatever is called. That’s why they do this on every factual program you watch. Also, mixing graphics live saves a lot of time on post-production. If you can just top&tail your live stream broadcast you can have the on-demand ready to go in minutes.

Engagement

Although this isn’t one of the technical requirements for live streams it’ll have a big effect on your ROI. Give your audience a way to interact with the live stream or they’ll tune out. At a minimum, you should make sure your hosts/presenters welcome the online audience and continue to engage with them throughout.

GET IN TOUCH

If you're planning a webcast or webinar and need a quote quickly we'll need some information from you. Fill out the form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We usually respond within 1 hour during UK office hours (9am to 6pm GMT).

Or you can call us on +44 (0)203 151 5870

* Where is the event taking place?We work in all regions in the UK and continental Europe or you can book one of our studios.

* When is the broadcast?Usually, we’d need at least one week’s notice so we can adequately prepare for a live stream. However, certain times of the year are busier than others so don’t leave it too late!

* Do you have an AV company looking after in-room AV/sound?If you’re planning on using a hired venue for a webcast or live stream then sound (microphones & in-room PA) will be provided. However, if you’re planning using one of your own locations we’ll need to allow for sound technicians.

* What platform would you like broadcast on (via social media or private/securely)?We can distribute your stream to multiple social media platforms and your website simultaneously. Or, if you’re planning an internal comms broadcast or any other live stream that contains sensitive information, we can make it secure for you.

If you have a contract with a webinar provider we’re happy to plug our production in your account.

Using Internal Comms Video to Drive Employee Engagement

The use of live video in the enterprise has increased dramatically in recent years. With this, internal comms video has shown similar growth, as more and more organisations realise its potential.

Properly taking advantage of live streaming to your employees can have a very positive effect on employee engagement, but it’s important to know how to use it well before making an investment into live video.

The growth of internal comms live streaming

The Gatehouse State of the Sector report 2018 shows how the use of the internal comms webcast (or ‘internal TV’) as a channel for internal comms has increased significantly in recent times. Growth is expected to continue to increase by 57-68% over the next 12 months.

Video is of course, heavily used in the marketing mix, but now internal communicators are becoming more aware of how they can invest in UGC and internal comms video to dramatically improve the impact of their campaigns. And professionals now expect to see video within their organisation: especially millennials who will soon account for nearly 50% of the workforce.

The benefits of live video

Video is one of the fastest-growing marketing channels, and a major reason for this is the ability it has to effectively engage audiences and build trust: this is something that will apply equally to company-wide updates.

Investing in live video messages or interactive webcast sessions with senior management makes communication more authentic, immediate and direct. For employees looking for increased transparency and ‘face time’ with management, what can be better than a direct link to the CEO or project leader?

Global businesses use live webcasts as a simple, effective way to ensure everyone stays on the same page and remain engaged with the goals of the organisation. This can prove crucial during times of change, or expansions into new regions.

Although it may take a while to hone skills and develop a format that works for your company, we find that our clients get great feedback from employees, with a regular Town Hall webcast becoming a key feature of working life.

Internal comms live streaming: the basics

Engaging employees with live video requires careful planning and building in time for technical rehearsals. In terms of the production values, we need to give our colleagues the same quality of experience they would expect outside the workplace. Nobody wants to watch a blurry, low quality live stream, after all!

That may sound like a rather obvious point, but we have first-hand experience of our clients taking the hit from senior management for below-par filming, lack of backup infrastructure and failures to integrate with complicated AV installations.

The good news is that with sufficient prep and attention to detail (plus input from expert streaming technicians who love problem-solving) we can make an internal comms webcast look and sound incredible without breaking the bank. Read more about production options in Live Streaming to Facebook Workplace for Internal Comms.

Planning means ROI and guaranteed engagement

In order to engage and inspire your employees, you first need to motivate them to watch your webcasts. Here are a few tips:

Use short video messages of 10-20 seconds to promote a longer internal comms webcast. This is a fantastic way to give people a small taste of what you’ll be discussing and pique their interest.

Arrange ‘viewing parties’ where you invite employees to gather around a large screen to watch the webcast together. This helps to build a buzz for the stream and foster a sense of community amongst employees, it also gives employees the opportunity to ‘officially’ take time away from their desks. It also reduces the load on internal bandwidth.

Look for diverse ‘talent’. It doesn’t have to be the same person presenting throughout. Adding a diverse range of voices from across the business is a powerful tool for keeping employees engaged.

Entertain. Your colleagues are just like everyone else: they enjoy being entertained. If appropriate, add some light-hearted, fun moments to your internal comms webcast. This article discussing how Virgin Atlantic uses video contains some great ideas for promoting and integrating video content into campaigns.

Plan fast post-production. Get the recording online quickly. Break it down into chapters to give those unable to attend the livestream the ability to choose sections that affect them most. This should be simple with forward planning. Ensure that your recording is securely backed up and ready to upload to your intranet or ESN immediately upon completion.

Plan interaction. Whether you’re using Slack, Yammer or Workplace as a back-channel for live comments and questions, you should ensure to have a dedicated moderator, who can manage incoming messages quickly and efficiently. Think about how you will manage feedback in a live environment. How often will you take questions? Could someone have a microphone and read out questions from the online audience? Will you need an extra monitor or iPad for presenters to see questions? Plan time for a proper tech run through to avoid any hiccups!

Start simple and scale up as your capabilities improve. There’s nothing wrong with a simple, one-camera shoot to start with, as long as the video is well shot and the audio is clear. You can read our basic requirements guide here. Once you’ve hit your stride, you’ll then be able to add an extra camera or two and more professional graphics and even live captions, all of which can make a huge difference to your audience. A multi-camera internal comms webcast has much more impact and keeps your audience engaged for longer. We discuss this further with our case study on why Hogarth scaled up from using webcams and WebEx to multi-camera live streaming with a bespoke, secure video player.

If you're planning a webcast or webinar and need a quote quickly we'll need some information from you. Fill out the form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We usually respond within 1 hour during UK office hours (9am to 6pm GMT).

Or you can call us on +44 (0)203 151 5870

* Where is the event taking place?We work in all regions in the UK and continental Europe or you can book one of our studios.

* When is the broadcast?Usually, we’d need at least one week’s notice so we can adequately prepare for a live stream. However, certain times of the year are busier than others so don’t leave it too late!

* Do you have an AV company looking after in-room AV/sound?If you’re planning on using a hired venue for a webcast or live stream then sound (microphones & in-room PA) will be provided. However, if you’re planning using one of your own locations we’ll need to allow for sound technicians.

* What platform would you like broadcast on (via social media or private/securely)?We can distribute your stream to multiple social media platforms and your website simultaneously. Or, if you’re planning an internal comms broadcast or any other live stream that contains sensitive information, we can make it secure for you.

If you have a contract with a webinar provider we’re happy to plug our production in your account.

Live Streaming Hogarth’s Quarterly Business Updates: Case Study

In this short case study, we look at the recent journey of Hogarth, where live streaming quarterly business updates has become an important initiative because of the company’s huge growth over last decade.

Since Hogarth was founded in 2008, the agency has gone from 14 to 5000 employees globally in multi regions. Quarterly Business Updates are now streamed live from London HQ offices in Soho and Covent Garden, reaching around 800 employees globally, with approx. 200 attending physically and the remainder joining the live stream from global locations such as New York, Singapore, Budapest, Mexico City and New Dheli.

Initially the livestreamed quarterly updates were produced by an in-house team using Webex and a Logitech webcam. But the standard wasn’t up to scratch, and the Comms team wanted to ‘not just get by’ but improve reliability and production quality, and ensure these broadcasts became a regular series. Transparency, authenticity, and ensuring reliable global access was a key driver for the decision to work with Kinura.

John Hinds, Production Technology Project Manager EMEA says: “We do of course have production resource in house but need a streaming partner because we want to make sure each event goes seamlessly. Also, it’s such a fast-moving market that we made the decision to outsource because at present we only stream four QBUs and it wouldn’t be worth investing in broadcast kit when we can hire it in affordably. The value to the business is clear in terms of ensuring we reach all our regional offices globally.

Since we stepped up from simple webcam-based production, the feedback has been very good indeed. Everyone thinks the livestreams are great. Much better quality, easy to access the video and supporting materials.

We want to keep pushing the format and keep tweaking and improving the production values. Adding in a mic for the audience, online chat for remote viewers, perhaps linking in other offices through Skype and rebroadcasting the output are all areas we are looking at. The team at Kinura have been very good. Helpful, accommodating, professional – so it’s a very good working relationship that we can build on to keep improving.”

The enterprise live video sector is experiencing rapid growth due to the demand for transparency and shared online experiences; bolstered by faster connectivity and proven reliable content delivery worldwide. A trend towards improving production quality can clearly be seen. Businesses need to invest for immediate impact and remain flexible to allow for scaling, improving and integrating video streaming tech. When it comes to live streaming quarterly business updates, Town Halls or staff meetings there’s a lot to think about in terms of making sure employees are engaged.

For companies still building a business case for video streaming, perhaps the most important decision is how to make sure they have the technical support and infrastructure in place to confidently move forward with a video strategy.

]]>How to get the most of streaming via Facebooklivehttps://kinura.com/streaming-via-facebooklive/
Tue, 14 Mar 2017 15:42:19 +0000http://www.kinura.com/?p=24872Lots of our clients now choose Facebook Live streaming as their main (or only) platform. No wonder, when Facebook users collectively make up what could be called the biggest audience in the world.

Facebook Live Streaming – How-To Guide

Introduction

Lots of our clients now choose Facebook Live streaming as their main (or only) platform. No wonder, when Facebook users collectively make up what could be called the biggest audience in the world. Facebook has essentially made ‘going live’ mainstream and proven how powerful live video can be. According to research gathered by Hootsuite in this article Facebook Live Video: The Complete Guide to Live-Streaming for Business.

Why Facebook Live?

One in five Facebook users watches Facebook Live.

People comment 10 times more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos.

The average time people spend watching Live videos is more than three times longer than a video that isn’t live.

Stats like these coupled with how easy Facebook live makes it too promote, share and comment on a broadcast makes using it to promote your event a bit of a no-brainer, although there are always considerations in terms of audience profile and production values etc. But generally speaking, the huge potential reach of live streamed events is being proven again and again by all kinds of organizations, not just the biggest brands and broadcasters.

Production Basics

Before you even think about using Facebook live streaming you need to get the production specification right. Here are the basics a few tips on scoping out a venue to integrate AV and live stream production for an event such as a conference, panel discussion or presentation. This is just a quick recap – you can read our basic livestream requirements guide here.

Camera. Don’t use a webcam or a phone. Webcams are just awful for so many reasons. Phone cameras are marginally better but then you need to provision sound – phone microphones are fine if you’re speaking directly into them – not for covering a room. You can start with just one, broadcast standard camera and an operator that know’s what they’re doing.

Audio. Crisp, professionally produced audio essential. Poor sound makes good video unwatchable. Sound provision is often an afterthought so don’t forget to think about this upfront. If you’re working in a venue, do they have an AV system and sound technicians on site?

Connectivity. A solid internet line that is not shared with anyone else will make for a reliable stream. Get some info from your chosen venue on what’s available and make sure the line is tested well in advance. Backup bonded LTE connections are more of an essential

Graphics. Add graphics to your stream to let the audience know you’re about to go live, include Twitter hashtags or speaker names on the video itself.

There’s a lot to think about so make sure you leave plenty of time for production prep, rehearsals and testing!

Setting up your encoder

Once your production is all set you need to get your pictures and sound into a format Facebook Live streaming understands. You do this using an encoder. These can be software or hardware based. We’ve written a roundup of the options in a previous article. There are a ton of options but they largely all do the same thing. Hardware encoders are generally more expensive but mean you can do without a computer – there’s even a dedicated Facebook Live streaming device (ClearCaster by Wowza). Software encoders need a Mac or PC with an ingest/capture device so you can plug your camera and microphone feed in.

Recommended maximum bit rate is 4000 Kbps (4 mbps).A maximum resolution of 720p (1280 x 720) at 30 frames per second.A keyframe must be sent at least every 2 seconds throughout the stream (so if you’re encoding at 30fps use a keyframe every 60 frames).Titles must have fewer than 255 characters or the stream will fail.H264 encoded video and AAC encoded audio only.

Promotion and Scheduling

You may have a huge team of social media experts who are much better placed than us to advise on your event promotion. If not, a good place to start is by taking a look at a new development that allows all ‘Pages’ on Facebook to schedule videos from the Live API via Publishing Tools. Facebook says “Scheduling live video makes it easier to build anticipation and buzz with your audience before your broadcast begins, so you can start strong with an audience already assembled,”. There’s a great blog post on Techcrunch about this and links through to the Live Blog with detailed steps to follow to set up scheduled live video posts.

Pitfalls, Gotcha’s and Good-To-Knows

Facebook Live (And YouTube Live) have copyright restriction algorithms. If you’re playing out copyrighted music as part of the broadcast this needs to be cleared in advance. We’ve seen plenty of live streams stopped because someone forgot the clear the walk-up music.

Facebook Live can be viewed even if you’re not logged into Facebook itself.

Facebook videos aren’t indexed by search engines, so you can’t just Google the event name. They can be actually quite hard to find on Facebook itself!

There are restrictions on the length of time you can stream for. These change from time-to-time so if your event is long – check beforehand.

Facebook Live streaming doesn’t allow for any kind of secure access so it’s not an option for any sensitive business communications or content that needs to be restricted.

GET IN TOUCH

If you're planning a webcast or webinar and need a quote quickly we'll need some information from you. Fill out the form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We usually respond within 1 hour during UK office hours (9am to 6pm GMT).

Or you can call us on +44 (0)203 151 5870

* Where is the event taking place?We work in all regions in the UK and continental Europe or you can book one of our studios.

* When is the broadcast?Usually, we’d need at least one week’s notice so we can adequately prepare for a live stream. However, certain times of the year are busier than others so don’t leave it too late!

* Do you have an AV company looking after in-room AV/sound?If you’re planning on using a hired venue for a webcast or live stream then sound (microphones & in-room PA) will be provided. However, if you’re planning using one of your own locations we’ll need to allow for sound technicians.

* What platform would you like broadcast on (via social media or private/securely)?We can distribute your stream to multiple social media platforms and your website simultaneously. Or, if you’re planning an internal comms broadcast or any other live stream that contains sensitive information, we can make it secure for you.

If you have a contract with a webinar provider we’re happy to plug our production in your account.

We’ve been looking at the potential of live streaming to Facebook Workplace for internal comms. Using live video for employee engagement is nothing new, but the familiar interface of Facebook combined with the relative ease of setting up a stream means there’s a great amount of potential. Latest reports show Workplace has had massive adoption over the last 12 months, with 30,000 organisations signing up. Workplace offers a secure space for companies to connect employees. Add the possibilities of live video streaming and you have a powerful tool for digital transformation.

Since Facebook Live launched early 2016, it’s become a key PR tool; taking audiences behind the scenes, giving direct access to live breaking news and connecting fans to exclusive celebrity live streams. There is something compelling about the authenticity and transparency of a direct connection to someone who is usually hard to reach. With ‘social live streaming’ a broadcast becomes a two way conversation. Senior staff become more accessible and key business messages get instant global reach.

For internal comms, live streaming to Facebook Workplace is used for CEO updates, All Staff Meetings, TownHalls, Product Updates etc. Live video builds trust within the corporate culture and makes company-wide meetings more inclusive through regular live updates. Once a live video workflow is established, it will be straightforward to move quickly to get a message out to a distributed workforce. And where many webcast platforms have failed to offer a user-friendly social experience, streaming via Workplace by Facebook is a winner because the interface is so familiar and accessible.

There may be times where you will need to set up a bespoke video player behind a secure web page for a live stream. Kinura currently provides this service for clients like Virgin, ARM, Channel 4 and HogarthWW. You can read a case study about the live streaming programme we work on with Hogarth here.

However – if Workplace is implemented in your organisation, there are a lot of possibilities. So let’s look at a few things to think about in terms of Live streaming to Facebook Workplace:

Broadcast production

Beyond a simple feed live from a smartphone or webcam when Live streaming to Facebook Workplace, it’s possible to scale up to professional production including multi-camera vision mixing, VT, graphics, slides, and graphic overlays. This kind of production means you’ll deliver a polished presentation that will really make an impact with employees and improve their experience of company wide communications .

Studio broadcasts

Live streaming to Facebook Workplace from a studio gives you more controlled production values. Where space is limited at your HQ, a studio can also work as a backup option. Studio production opens possibilities for a very ‘polished’ production. Using a branded set or backdrop gives the ‘show’ an identity and makes everything more slick. Most studios will have a lot of broadcast kit to hand so there’s no surprises and fail safe backup. Webcast studios come with dedicated high speed internet which also makes live broadcasting more reliable.

On location streaming

Broadcasting over a bonded 4G network now provides a reliable and affordable way of streaming from any location, even if there’s no bandwidth available. This can add a fun element to keep your audience glued to the screen, or just mean you can get out and stream your event from the factory floor or a far flung office instead of always being at your HQ.

Multi-way Video

Bringing in remote speakers on VC / Skype requires a bit more investment of time and planning, but can make an event more collaborative and allow speakers from remote offices to present as part of the live stream. This is achieved by setting up the multi-way feed and then integrating it into the main video mix. As long as it’s planned and tested, this works really well.

Language translation

Workplace’s auto translate feature lets employee feedback be shared more widely without language barriers, and adding a live translation element to a broadcast via audio overlay or captions can also widen out the online meeting to more employees.

Think of your employee updates in terms of the full possibilities of live broadcasting. 1000s of organisations are already using Workplace. It’s mobile-ready, and most people are already trained to use it by default. Find out more about how Workplace is being used and by whom in this great blog by AllThingsIC.

GET IN TOUCH

If you're planning a webcast or webinar and need a quote quickly we'll need some information from you. Fill out the form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We usually respond within 1 hour during UK office hours (9am to 6pm GMT).

Or you can call us on +44 (0)203 151 5870

* Where is the event taking place?We work in all regions in the UK and continental Europe or you can book one of our studios.

* When is the broadcast?Usually, we’d need at least one week’s notice so we can adequately prepare for a live stream. However, certain times of the year are busier than others so don’t leave it too late!

* Do you have an AV company looking after in-room AV/sound?If you’re planning on using a hired venue for a webcast or live stream then sound (microphones & in-room PA) will be provided. However, if you’re planning using one of your own locations we’ll need to allow for sound technicians.

* What platform would you like broadcast on (via social media or private/securely)?We can distribute your stream to multiple social media platforms and your website simultaneously. Or, if you’re planning an internal comms broadcast or any other live stream that contains sensitive information, we can make it secure for you.

If you have a contract with a webinar provider we’re happy to plug our production in your account.

Integrating Social Media into your Livestreaming Events

Engagement is what sets great live events apart from merely good ones. You can have the most interesting content in the world to share, but if your audience can’t get involved and provide input and feedback, you may as well have just made a video. With over 1.5 billion people around the world using social media platforms, they’re the natural choice for getting audiences at home or at work to engage with your livestreamed event. But as many event organisers have discovered, integrating social media into your livestreaming events needs planning and persistence. Here are our top tips for social integration that really gets results:

BEFORE THE LIVE STREAM

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Get the conversation started early. You should be promoting at least six weeks prior to the event across every available communication channel. Following up one month, one week, one day and one hour before it goes live. This is something we see clients fail to do time after time. Starting and nurturing conversation on social media in the run-up to the event will increase engagement provide a significant boost to attendance.

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Get the speakers involved. Are the host & speakers respected thought leaders in their field? Then they’re probably going to be pretty well connected on social and have lots of followers. Getting them involved in your social conversation should be a part of the overall strategy. It also helps bring their ideas to life in a personalised and relatable way, adding value the audience.

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Dedicate a team to managing the conversation. For a conversation to bloom, it needs to be nurtured and guided and that requires a dedicated team and a clearly defined strategy from the start. Pre-event polling is really easy and helps you make your content relevant. Poll your audience on social media as to what’s important to them and what information they want to see covered on the live stream. If there’s a prevalent topic in the social feedback make sure it’s planned in as a part of the livestream content.

DURING THE LIVE STREAM

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Let attendees see their contributions. When people can see their social contributions on the live stream they’re more motivated to get involved and give their opinion. On-screen feeds, ticker tapes or live reaction polls are the perfect way to visualise the social conversation and make your online audience part of the event.

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Have a strong social Q&A session. Plan for 2 minutes but allow for 20. Treat your online audience as if they were in the room. There should be a member of staff from the social media team designated the online audiences ‘voice’. They’ll address questions put via social media or chat. The online audience should also have a clear channel to follow up these question after the event. For many audience members, the Q&A is the most valuable part of the event. It’s also a good idea to have a couple of pre-prepared questions ready to get things started as nobody likes being the first one to talk!

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Let your audience talk where they’re most comfortable. There are lots of options alongside social media. Live chat or question submission forms are useful as they can be entirely anonymous. People might want to speak up but not necessarily want to be public about their views. On the other hand, comments from through social media channels from users with established profiles help reinforce the content. In short, you should do both and pay attention to both channels.

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Don’t just use social to promote the event, shape the event with social input. It’s important that your event and the social conversations related to it don’t feel like separate entities. Cross-promote them and use the content and conversation of one to shape the other. Your live event is a broadcast, but it’s extremely important to listen and react to your audience too.

AFTER THE LIVE STREAM

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Follow up properly. If you didn’t have the chance to address all the questions during the Q&A make sure you do after the show is over. While the event is still fresh in people’s heads you should let them know when the next event will be. If they enjoyed the content they’ll likely drop it in the calendar making audience generation easier next time. Run a poll to see which content your audience would like to see next time and what they did or didn’t like about the topics covered on the livestream.

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Scheduled programming died long ago. So on-demand is VERY important. Your content should be online as quickly as possible and when it is you need to let your audience know it’s ready. A large portion of your audience won’t have seen your live stream for any number of good reasons (sick kid, sick cat, dentist appointments for kids then cats, etc). Follow up, and keep plugging the content.

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Sweeten the pot with an incentive to participate. Everyone loves a good competition, and a live event is a perfect opportunity to host one. Incentivise social engagement with giveaways or any other proposition that’s of high value to your audience. But beware: the key here is making sure that you incentivise productive contributions. Simply asking for retweets isn’t going to add a great deal to your conversation.

GET IN TOUCH

If you're planning a webcast or webinar and need a quote quickly we'll need some information from you. Fill out the form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We usually respond within 1 hour during UK office hours (9am to 6pm GMT).

Or you can call us on +44 (0)203 151 5870

* Where is the event taking place?We work in all regions in the UK and continental Europe or you can book one of our studios.

* When is the broadcast?Usually, we’d need at least one week’s notice so we can adequately prepare for a live stream. However, certain times of the year are busier than others so don’t leave it too late!

* Do you have an AV company looking after in-room AV/sound?If you’re planning on using a hired venue for a webcast or live stream then sound (microphones & in-room PA) will be provided. However, if you’re planning using one of your own locations we’ll need to allow for sound technicians.

* What platform would you like broadcast on (via social media or private/securely)?We can distribute your stream to multiple social media platforms and your website simultaneously. Or, if you’re planning an internal comms broadcast or any other live stream that contains sensitive information, we can make it secure for you.

If you have a contract with a webinar provider we’re happy to plug our production in your account.

Employee Generated Video for Internal Communications

Employee Generated Video (EGV) is on the rise and 81% of executives believe the demand for these videos will only increase. So, is it about time your company got involved? There are a lot of mixed thoughts about EGV in the business world, executives are often put off using it for fear their employees will upload “irresponsible content”. According to a study last year by Qumu, 51% of executives are concerned about this yet 100% of respondents have never actually experienced any inappropriate video being uploaded to the company network. So, are there any benefits to this strategy? We’ve decided to share some of our research to let you decide whether Employee Generated Video could be beneficial for your company.

What is Employee Generated Video?

Essentially, EGV is similar to public User-Generated Video, such as Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl contest and Gmail: Behind the Scenescampaign, in which companies invite customers and fans to submit home-made videos that the brand can use for video marketing content. This is not only a great way of marketing a company, but it really engages customers and makes them feel personally connected to the brand. Such campaigns have likely influenced businesses to engage their employees in similar ways, inviting them to upload video content to the company network for knowledge sharing, company announcements or as part of a company changeover strategy. For example, in 2006 Pfizer implemented EGV into their global “transformation” strategy. Pfizer selected 10 employees and gave them each a camera and tripod asking them to record video diaries of their experiences as the company changes took effect. This strategy was successful for the company in terms of helping employees adapt to organisation changes while feeling engaged with it.

Use internal video to enhance employee engagement

A key reason to implement EGV is to engage employees and improve internal communications. EGV can be used to relay information to employees, by using how-to videos, online presentations and webinars or even video diaries, but how do you measure if these videos are enhancing employee engagement? The Edge Picture Company’s whitepaper (available for download here) suggested that measuring success is not the number of videos entered, but “how the wider workforce engages with them.” When IBM implemented EGV into the company, less than 0.1% of the workforce produced their own videos. But within a month of the content launching, employees shared the videos internally nearly 4,800 times and left 3,212 comments. Although only a hand full of employees may engage with the video making process, it’s important to apply social media, commenting and sharing tools to encourage employee interaction.

Interaction and engagement are where you will find the true benefit of internal video and this is becoming even easier since most of the major internal comms social platforms (Yammer, Workplace, etc) now include live video tools. We’ve written a longer article on live video for Facebook Workplace if you need some more info.

Sharing knowledge with video in the workplace

Video is a great tool for training and educating, as it creates memorable learning experiences; we remember 50% of what we both hear and see, in comparison to only 10% of what we read. Video can be used as an e-learning tool within the workplace, allowing executives and employees to share their knowledge with colleagues or even hold training sessions on an internal webinar platform. Research conducted by Paolo Tosolini at RUN Studios showed that organisations are encouraging employees to share knowledge that drives performance. Xerox launched an internal user-generated video platform that encourages everybody to ‘Show, Share, and Lead’ through the power of video, while SAP also have their own ‘internal video platform’.

What if employees upload inappropriate content?

The fear that employees might upload inappropriate content makes it tempting to limit the type of employees creating content to company executives and CEO’s only. Howevera survey reveals that, at 45.5%, co-workers produce the most interesting corporate content, even though CEO’s produce the highest volume of videos. So, with co-workers producing such a large percentage of engaging content, it may not be beneficial to discourage the amount of content they can create. It’s also never in your favour to give employees the impression that you don’t trust them. If you’re really worried that employees might upload content you’re not happy with, then controlling which videos go onto the network is the certainly best way to go. Instead of employees being able to upload content straight to the network, try giving someone the task of managing which content is uploaded. This will filter out any inappropriate videos.

Make sure Employee Generated Video is right for your company

Employee Generated Video sounds easy to execute into company practice, after all your employees are doing all the work, right? Well, that’s not always the case. Executives need to make sure they have the resources within their company to train the employees who may not be familiar with the process, as well as ensuring the employee generated project has a clear purpose. It’s vital to make sure that you’re taking the right approach when using employee generated content. Pfizer’s video diary programme aimed to “take out the corporate” and focused on videos made by ordinary employees, rather than corporate directors and CEO’s. The videos were real, informal and authentic, employees felt connected to the people in the videos as they could relate to them. This really worked for Pfizer’s programme, so you need to make sure you pick an approach that works for the purpose of your project.

Video is everywhere. It’s the big thing in marketing right now. Businesses want to create engaging content that goes viral and everyone is talking about the power of video, how it can drive traffic to websites and directly generate sales. Last week, comScore released figures for February’s online video rankings, finding that US viewers saw 9.9 billion video ads last month (increasing by a considerable 0.8 billion since January). So, if your organisation isn’t getting involved yet, then it’s about time it did. Not only to keep up with the competition and consumer needs but also because company executives are watching video more than ever too. 75% of executives told Forbes they watch work-related videos on business websites once a week. But if you’re not a video whizz, where do you start? Here at Kinura, we’ve put together some tips that will help get ideas flowing. Whether you’re in B2B or consumer sales, you can use video in so many different ways within your business. Here are just a few ideas:

1. Create promotional video to market your products and services

When creating promotional content try not to give too much away: aim to make the viewer want to find out more. This will encourage them to visit your website, which will also help to drive that all-important traffic to your site. Take a look at Qualcomm’s most recent marketing video Best Bus Stop Ever. With over 3 million views it’s a great example of a clever marketing concept that demonstrates how the company ‘make everyday life better with social media’. There is so much video content out there that your video needs to stand out and engage viewers. Like Qualcomm, you need to try and think outside the box, brainstorm ideas until you come up with a concept that works.

2. Use your expertise to create ‘how-to’ videos

This video format is not only useful to potential customers or clients, but is also a great opportunity to show off what you know and build up credibility. When deciding what topics to address in your videos it’s important to think about what your customers or clients might need help with. ReelSEO show some great examples of ‘how-to’ videos on their YouTube channel, and also give plenty of useful tips on video marketing and video production. Be sure to check it out before implementing video into your marketing strategy. If you get it right, viewers will feel like you’ve really helped them. They may even subscribe to your video channel and continue to engage in what else you’re doing online.

3. Engage with potential customers using webinars

Live webinars are great for encouraging your audience to engage in conversation and debate with you. It’s an opportunity for clients, customers and industry experts to meet the real you, this will make them feel more personally connected to your brand. They’re also handy for building SEO and generating traffic to your website. You can enhance this by extending the life of your webinars by making them available on-demand. There are plenty of examples of companies who are using webinars to add value to their brand. For example The Ken Blanchard Companies, a management training and consultancy firm, offer free-of-charge webinars about management techniques. Their webinars often provide information parallel to that found in their books, a great way to market content. Hubspot also offer free on-demand webinars, take a look at their webinar Beginners Guide to Video Marketing for even more tips on online video.

4. Live stream your events and conferences

If your company host events and conferences then live streaming these events can often enhance your business. Live streaming your event opens doors to new potential clients who maybe haven’t heard of your events previously, or just haven’t been able to attend due to distance. Live video content also creates a sense of urgency, in comparison to simply filming an event and then making it available on-demand a few days later. This urgency can really help to drive the number of viewers. There are tons of advantages to live streaming your events, more of which we highlighted in our blog here.

Can live streaming events really enhance your business?

Some organisations are still put off live streaming events because they fear it will impact on physical attendance rates. So, Can live streaming events really enhance your business? Or does it cost too much? Time to start looking at the success stories, benefits and actual cost-savings of webcasts and webinars.

Virtual and hybrid events are a good idea. For this article, we’ve gathered together some stats and further reading that will hopefully be food for thought. If you aren’t already thinking about how to take your events online, then it’s time to start exploring. The British Meetings & Events Industry Survey 2011/12 states “some 20% of corporates and 17% of associations / not-for-profit have used virtual meetings in addition to face-to-face meetings and up to 13% of both sectors have used virtual meetings instead of face-to-face meetings.” Global firms like Astra Zeneca have made a bold move to go virtual, putting a stop to doctors travelling to meetings. Companies like ThomsonReuters and LexisNexis have built entire business divisions around webinars and Continual Professional Development (CPD).

Using webinars as part of a content marketing strategy generates leads, improves SEO and creates real, two-way (trackable) conversations between organisations and audiences.

We found this great article about a study by the MPI foundation ‘The Value of Virtual’, which contains some very tangible results. As they say, ‘most organizations are still trying to understand just exactly what a “virtual event” is’ and use of virtual is often linked to travel budget cuts. BUT ‘virtual meetings won’t just be emergency budget stopgaps for long. Organizations are beginning to add virtual meetings to their core business processes’.

Digital events create a wider audience, both online and in-person

Live streaming events has a very positive impact on general audience figures. Kinura’s clients often see at least double the number of attendees online than those in-person.

Live streaming physical events can increase interest and help people decide whether they want to attend future events in person. In a 2011 study, Virtual Edge Institute found that 82% of the online audience found the virtual environment helpful in making a decision to attend in person next time, meaning your future events could see a rise in attendance if you stream online.

Online events solve issues surrounding travel budget cuts

Over the last few years event organisers have suffered travel budget cuts, leading to an increase in the use of virtual events. In 2010, Event magazine reported a 62% increase in the number of organisers using virtual events, with 19% saying they have seen more than double taking place. And that was in 2010!

Virtual events save companies money according to a report last year by GigaOm.com, the average virtual event saves $1,000 in travel costs per attendee.

Live streaming and the benefits of social media integration

Perhaps the online experience can’t fully replace face-to-face networking, but it still allows for the integration of social media and IM chat, and encourages a real-time debate between audiences during event presentations.

One of the main concerns virtual event providers have is the lack of networking available to online audience in comparison to in-person attendees, yet ON24 statistics suggests that many actually considered it easier to network virtually. 72% said they were equally confident interacting virtually, with 15% saying they actually preferred it.

Social media sites such as Twitter can also be used as a great marketing tool for online events, especially if your audience manages to get your event trending. A study by ON24 suggested that 22% of respondents indicate they heard about the event via social media. We’ve written a more in-depth article on integrating social media with your live streams if you need some help.

If you have any more stats you want to share or a something to add to the pros and cons argument then get in touch. And we’ll keep our eye out for more research about the virtual events market. (N.B. For a good debate on the ‘technology versus face-to-face’ argument, I found this article on BusinessWeek. Of course there are pros and cons each way and it’s all about individual business needs and what works for whom. But like it or not, this growing market will only get stronger and we all need to find better ways of meeting and learning online).